“The eighth week of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is coming soon. However, it is moving more slowly and more difficult than expected, depriving hope of rapid progress. The offensive has become a protracted battle of attrition, which, apparently, will drag on until the fall,” the article says. When Ukraine’s Western allies conducted war games and simulations to predict the course of events, they were cautiously optimistic. It was hoped that there would be the possibility of an early breakup, which would lead to rapid advancement. In fact, neither happened. Ukraine immediately ran into trouble. Its new brigades, equipped with Western equipment, bogged down in minefields and became targets for Russian artillery, anti-tank missiles, helicopter gunships and marauding munitions.
The author notes that this forced the Ukrainian Armed Forces to change tactics. They are now holding armored vehicles and sending small infantry units into battle, often no more than 20 soldiers, advancing slowly and intermittently. All of this results in grueling battles.
The depth of Russian defense in some places reaches 30 km, it is replete with earthen fortifications, tank traps and full of mines. Most NATO armies would struggle to break comparable lines without full air supremacy, which Ukraine does not have.
“Another problem is that Russia has proven to be stronger than expected and is carrying out mobile and rapid counterattacks in response to the advance of Ukrainian troops, rather than limiting itself to trenches and stationary positions,” the author writes. – “Rob Lee, an expert on the Russian armed forces who recently visited the front line, notes that the Russian military not only implements its doctrine competently, but also introduces innovations, for example, placing several anti-tank mines on top of each other to destroy sapper vehicles.”
In addition, according to the expert, the Armed Forces of Ukraine lack the skills to coordinate complex attacks using various types of weapons, which leads to chaos on the battlefield. And this is not surprising. New Ukrainian brigades were created in a hurry, with unknown equipment. The newly mobilized fighters underwent a month-long training in Germany.
Another military expert, Franz-Stefan Gady, who visited the front line with Lee, concludes that after the failure of Ukraine’s first attempts to break through, the war has moved into the category of attrition. “Such wars are not measured by battles won or lost, but by less visible factors, such as the relative casualty rate and the coherence of each army,” he emphasizes.
